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New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale was impressed by R.J. Barrett's debut on Monday night against the Washington Wizards. After missing his first four 3-point attempts, Barrett found his groove in the third quarter, scoring nine points and dishing out two assists to help the Knicks re-build a lead against the Wizards.
Barrett finished with a strong line of 17 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in 39 minutes of play, leaving a good impression on his coach:
“That's a player,” Fizdale said of Barrett, according to SNY's Ian Begley. “When you have a guy who really has belief in himself and doesn't lose confidence, doesn't waver. He's always engaged in the game and he's always going to feel like he can get it going.”
Plenty of young players sulk after a poor start to a game, especially when it comes to preseason action and all eyes seem to be on them — yet Barrett put his chin down and trucked along, spearheading a 104-99 win to lift the spirits of Knicks fans.
“I just played defense and let the game come to me,” Barrett said of his third quarter. “My teammates were finding me. As I kept scoring, they kept finding me, kept making plays and getting stops. It was fun to be out there.”
Barrett shot a crisp 6-of-13 from the floor, making two of his six shots from distance and 3-of-5 from the foul line. His 39 minutes of floor time were by far the most of any player in Monday's preseason game.
